Technological advances enable the Michelson interferometer to measure multilayered samples that are tens of millimeters thick, with submicron accuracy.SAM MARGOLIS AND MICHAEL HOUK, BRISTOL INSTRUMENTS INC.White light interferometry (WLI) is a common system of measurement with a long history and a variety of applications, which currently include surface profiling1, medical imaging, and — as in the past — thickness measurement. Also known as coherence scanning interferometry (CSI), vertical scanning interferometry (VSI), and optical coherence tomography (OCT), these systems, regardless of their names, are characterized by the same components: a broadband light source, reflection from one or more surfaces being measured, illumination and light collection optics, and an interferometer...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESMeasuring Optics with Spectrally Controlled InterferometryMeasuring flat and prismatic optics with a traditional laser interferometer is difficult to impossible. Optical engineers, scientists, and technicians struggle to obtain accurate measurements on...Photonics Spectra February 2019 Issue3D Optical Profiling in Automotive ManufacturingThe automotive industry has undergone major changes over the past couple of decades because of a combination of internal and external factors that include competitive cost-reduction actions and...Photonics Spectra April 2019 IssueIR Metrology with Visible LightIR instruments are indispensable tools for material analysis, environmental sensing, and homeland security. Through decades of development and commercialization, one common and significant limitation...Photonics Spectra July 2019 IssueOn-Chip Tunable Photonic Delay Line Could Help Miniaturize OCT DevicesScientists at Columbia University have developed an on-chip, tunable photonic delay line to miniaturize imaging technology. Using their on-chip technology to map the back of the eye, the researchers...Photonics Spectra December 2019 IssuePRODUCTSIntroducing the Lumedica OQ PathScopeLumedica is proud to introduce the newest member to its low-cost OCT imaging OQ Series lineup: The OQ PathScope. OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) is a valuable bench tool for pathology teams that...Promoted Content August 2018 IssueScanning Laser OphthalmoscopeThe Mirante Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope from Nidek Co. Ltd. is a multimodal fundus imaging platform that combines high-definition scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) and optical coherence...BioPhotonics October 2019 IssuePiezo-electric Fiber StretcherModel 915B Piezo-electric fiber stretcher provides up to 16um stretch for 9m of fiber from DC to 10kHz falling off to 0 @ 100kHz. Fiber is stretched and compressed by piezo wafers elastically mounted...Promoted Content June 2018 IssueOCT SpectrometersWasatch Photonics Inc. has expanded its Cobra OCT spectrometer product line to include new models for 550-nm visible optical coherence tomography (OCT) and long-range 800-nm OCT imaging. The...BioPhotonics September 2018 IssuePHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESMicroscopy Illumination: Considering Nonlaser Light Sources: Metal halide and LED light sources are changing the illumination landscape in microscopy. Brighter, easier to use and growing in application, they are driving new options in fluorescence, conventional bright-field and other contrast techniques.As recently as five years ago, shopping for a microscope light source was fairly straightforward. For routine applications, it was tungsten halogen, typically 100 W, while for fluorescence, it was an...Photonics HandbookSuperresolution Microscopy: An Imaging Revolution: Despite tremendous accomplishments in recent years, superresolution microscopy is a relatively young field, and confusion exists in this domain of many abbreviations. However, this makes for captivating times as superresolution microscopy opens the door to wider imaging applications.Superresolution optical microscopy, for which the Nobel Prize was awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell, and William Moerner in 2014, has been one of the most momentous developments in the life...Photonics HandbookSilicon Photonics: Light Is the Ultimate Medium for High-Speed Communications: Thanks to innovations with heterogeneous material integration and multiphotonic layer stacking, silicon photonics will drive optical solutions to high volumes and low costs.Silicon photonics is widely considered a key enabling technology for further development of optical interconnect solutions needed to address growing traffic on the internet. From the first submarine...Photonics HandbookTunable Light Sources: A Popular Choice for Measurement Applications: Common goals of spectroscopy applications such as studying the chemical or biological properties of a material often dictate the requirements of the measurement system’s lamp, power supply, and monochromator.Many common spectroscopic measurements require the coordinated operation of a detection instrument and light source, as well as data acquisition and processing. Integration of individual components...Photonics HandbookWEBINARSBiophotonic Imaging for Medicine: A Digital ConferenceResearchers from around the world presented their latest work at “Biophotonic Imaging for Medicine: A Digital Conference.” Presentations focused on a range of light-based imaging and...Photonics.com 6/11/2015Solving Challenges in Defect Inspection of Advanced OpticsOptical components such as lenses, mirrors, prisms, and windows undergo tight quality control to deliver optimal optical transfer function. Any scratch, dig, chip pinhole, or other defect will...Photonics.com 9/23/2019Techniques in Biophotonic ImagingFREE WEBINAR Sponsored by: Hamamatsu & Applied Scientific Instrumentation Additional Questions & Answers from the webinar are below: Dr. Kimani C. Toussaint Jr. Quantitative...Photonics.com 3/21/2013The Future of OpticsTwo perspectives on the Future of Optics Dr. Adam Wax, Theodore Kennedy Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University’s Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics and Director...Photonics.com 10/20/2011PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSoptical coherence tomography angiographyAlso known as OCT-A, optical coherence tomography angiography is an imaging technique that uses light waves to measure changes in the reflectance characteristics, enabling the the quantitative...EDU.photonics.com 6/28/2017optical coherence tomography (OCT)A noninvasive (typically medical) optical imaging acquisition technique that uses light waves to form distinct, three dimensional, layered cross-sectional images of an optical scattering media (i.e....EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018absorbing wedgeA doped or absorbing transparent medium cut or molded into a wedge in order to measure the real and imaginary components of the refractive index. An internally reflected Gaussian beam is interfered...EDU.photonics.com 1/6/2013speckle metrologyRefers to the variety of techniques that use the interference pattern produced by laser light diffusely reflected by an object. There are two basic techniques: direct laser photography, used when...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIAPhotonic Silicon & 3-D Printable Optics - LIGHT MATTERS 04.03.2013-Shrinking OCT -Photonic Logic Gate -Intravascular OCT This week on Light matters: bulk silicon emits visible light, 3-D printable optics are open sourced, a European project aims to shrink light...Photonics.com 4/3/2013Star Wars 'Superlaser' Meets Reality - LIGHT MATTERS 05.2017The "superlaser" technology used by the Death Star space station may be closer to reality than you think, according to researchers in Australia who have proven that multiplying laser beams with a...Photonics.com 5/26/2017LED Grown Tomatoes & Bug Eye Cameras - LIGHT MATTERS 05.08.2013-Bugs Eye Camera -LED Tomatoes -Asbestos Detection This week on Light Matters: a new digital camera offers a wide-angle bug’s eye view and nearly infinite depth of field, OCT improves lens...Photonics.com 5/8/2013Photonics West Blends Industry, Innovation, LearningPhotonics West is an annual must-attend event in the photonics industry and for more than two decades it has been a symbol of the optimism and excitement for the potential of photonics and...Photonics.com 1/10/2017PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESSuperluminescent Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)A superluminescent light-emitting diode is an emitter based on stimulated emission with amplification but insufficient feedback for oscillation to build up.Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging SystemsAn optical coherence tomography imaging system is a medical diagnosis technique that uses lightwaves to form cross-sectional images of a patient's retina.Interferometry Laser SystemsKrypton-Ion LasersCOMPANIESBristol Instruments Inc.Bristol Instruments, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets precision optical interferometer-based instruments for the scientific, fiber communications, and optical metrology markets. Its flagship...Photonics Buyers' GuideArden Photonics Ltd.ARDEN PHOTONICS designs and manufactures a wide range of high quality components and instrumentation for the measurement of a wide range of properties of optical fibers and lasers ideally suited to...Photonics Buyers' GuideWasatch Photonics Inc.At Wasatch Photonics, we’re fascinated by the many ways light can be used to understand nature and solve the problems that touch our lives each day, and it shows in our innovation, applications...Photonics Buyers' GuideFermionics Opto-TechnologyFermionics Opto-Technology is an independent manufacturer of InGaAs photodiodes for data, voice, and video communications; large-area photodiodes for instrumentation and sensing applications; optical...Photonics Buyers' Guide